


Beyond Nightfall

by noyabeans (snowdrops)



Series: Timeless [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Established Relationship, Injury, M/M, Mystery Character(s), Warlocks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-29 21:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11449782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowdrops/pseuds/noyabeans
Summary: Konoha and Nishinoya go cave exploring, and come away with much more than they'd bargained for.





	Beyond Nightfall

**Author's Note:**

> This is a standalone fic that can be read separate from the rest of the series. 
> 
> The only background knowledge needed is that Nishinoya is a time traveller, and Konoha is a warlock.
> 
> ****
> 
> **Note: Not all major characters who appear in the story are tagged in the story tags, in order to avoid spoilers for the plot. There are a few mentions of injuries, but they are not graphic in any way.**

**20th Century**

As has become routine for them whenever Noya visits, they're exploring the caves again. Tonight, it’s one near to the mines, with musty air and a ceiling low enough that Akinori has to bend slightly to avoid hitting it, the light orb he’s conjured in his hand casting their shadows long on the ground. It’s silent all around, save their footsteps echoing down the passageway.

“What lived here?”

Akinori hums softly, watching how Noya’s gaze flits wherever the light illuminates. He looks a little like a child, marvelling at the wonders of the earth, and the thought brings a smile to Akinori’s face, even as he stretches out his free hand to touch the side of the cave, letting his power seep gently into it and speak to the earth.

“Dragons,” he murmurs, the ground yielding its answers to him. “A clan of dragons lived here long ago when this land was still underground.

“But few living things pass by now, because the wild creatures enter from the forest, further down the path closer to the silver mines.”

"Woah! That must be lonely for the ground," Noya says, bending down to touch the soil. “Maybe someday I’ll jump back to the days of the dragons and come say hi! There's a pod right outside the forest entrance, I think?”

The earth whispers something, and Akinori smiles at its words. "The cave says to thank you for coming, and that you shouldn’t jump all the way back because it’s dangerous for humans."

"You're welcome," Noya grins, seemingly deaf to the second half of Akinori’s sentence, before scampering off towards the edge of the ring of light that Akinori's orb is casting.

"Hey Akinori, there's a fork in the road! Which goes where?"

Akinori laughs at that, and the ground rumbles too, unheard to all but Akinori alone. "The left fork leads towards the forest entrance and the mines, and the right is just a straight path to the end of the cave."

"Then left it is," Noya decides, just like Akinori knew he would. Noya's never been one to dwell much on weighing his options - he goes, sometimes, by nothing more than pure instinct, driven by adrenaline and the promise of more adventure.

They move on, sidestepping animal bones and the odd stalagmite rising from the floor, Noya chattering away about everything and anything, his voice filling the silence. Akinori is more than willing to listen, because when something enchants Noya, the excitement with which he speaks is almost spellbinding. Most of the time, that is.

The cave is deep - it passes through the forests and winds into the mountains, and the path leads them to an underground pool and a small waterfall, a flight of steps carved into the earth next to it.

Noya bounds up, his footsteps light enough that the soil barely shifts, and Akinori follows closely behind. At the top of the steps, he finds Noya standing stock-still, staring at the small river leading to the waterfall.

It's glittering with moonlight from somewhere, probably a crack in the cave roof. Belatedly he recalls that tonight’s a full moon.

“Wow,” Noya says, voice hushed in awe. It’s unusual to see him so speechless for once.

They are almost at the forest entrance, the cave tells Akinori. The ground is soft, and there are tracks along the side of the river, some not more than a day old. Some animals might have come to seek shelter, and Akinori prays fervently that he and Noya aren’t disturbing their rest.

It isn’t long before the forest entrance comes into sight, and they stop for a bit, savouring the fresh air. It would be dark, were it not for the moonlight flooding the ground. The river gurgles out, a silver stream trailing into the shadow of the forest.

There’s a cool wind gusting, and Akinori thanks the heavens silently for giving him the foresight to insist that Noya wear a thicker cloak than usual.

As all humans are, Noya is fragile. Some days, it’s difficult for Akinori to remember his fragility, because of the immensity of Noya’s presence. The force with which he’s ripped a space into Akinori’s life is one that Akinori himself still can’t quite wrap his head around, even after so many years. It feels like it was just yesterday that a curious child _somehow_ found his way into Akinori’s territory on the borders of the forest, never mind that it was a half hour trek away from the town; now, he can’t imagine a life without Noya in it.

After some time, he decides it’s time to venture on. Even with the cloak, the wind is still harsh and he doesn’t want to risk Noya getting chills.

“Let’s go,” he says, nudging the other’s shoulder.

Noya moves, tucking his left hand into the woven pocket and his right into Akinori’s own. He looks at Akinori then, pulling a face.

“Your hand is so cold,” he grumbles. “Told you to wear the coat.”

Akinori chuckles lowly; Noya always runs hot, so he’s never cold when he’s near the other. “I don’t need a coat when I have a portable heater.”

“Oi, watch who you’re calling portable!”

Akinori is sure there is the stupidest grin on his face right now. Noya's wearing a look of absolute indignance, but his hand is still wrapped tightly around Akinori's.

They walk in relative silence for a while - there’s nothing beyond the sound of their footsteps and the trail of prints in the soil, but it seems that whatever visited has left already; the prints go in both directions and form a clear track backwards, out of the cave.

The cave is getting narrower, and Akinori has to duck to avoid the stalactites hanging from the roof. If not for the knowledge that the mine is just in front, and that Noya would want to see it since they’ve come so far, he would have suggested they turn back by now. He grimaces as he squeezes through a particularly narrow crevice; Noya is slight enough to slip through without much struggle, but it’s a tight fit for Akinori.

Without warning, the cave opens up again, a yawning hole in the far wall the only sign that they’ve reached the mine’s entrance.

“I thought we were never gonna get here,” he groans, and Noya laughs, the sound bouncing off the walls.

“Sorry for making you walk so much, old man Akinori,” he teases, and Akinori swats at him half-heartedly.

“Didn’t your parents teach you to respect your elders?”

“That rule doesn’t apply for people who call me portable,” Noya says, sticking his tongue out. “C’mon, let’s go!”

The hole is actually a widened doorway; jagged wood is used as a makeshift doorframe, and the words _Kouyou Mine_ are painted in heavy strokes above it.

“Oh, this was a backup entrance for the miners,” Akinori says as they clamber over a fallen piece of wood in the doorway. “The main gate is much further north.”

He isn’t sure if Noya even hears him, because the other is tugging him impatiently towards the mine. “Wait, Noya, slow down, it’s a _slope_ , the soil might be loose.”

Noya slows down minutely at his words, but he picks up speed again before stopping short without warning. Unable to stop in time, Akinori collides against Noya at full force, letting out an involuntary “Oof” in the process. “Why’d you stop?”

There’s no answer from Noya, but he crouches down, and that’s when Akinori sees it.

 _It_ looks like a matted lump of fur lying limply on the ground. Akinori would have thought it motionless were it not for the ragged sounds of something breathing, previously drowned out by the noise of his and Noya’s entrance. There's a breathless, broken whine, like an animal in pain. That's probably what the lump is, but from this angle Akinori can't see too clearly.

"It's injured," he murmurs, levitating his light orb before he kneels down in front of the lump, Noya moving back to give him space.

Akinori lays a hand on the animal, feeling how it tenses under his touch. "Hush, you're safe," he murmurs, as he lifts it up as gently as he can. It's surprisingly heavy. The animal lets out a high-pitched keen, and Akinori can feel the sharpness of claws against his skin as it scrabbles for purchase. Unfazed, he strokes its fur, whispering a mild calming spell that makes the animal settle down a little bit. There's something damp on his hand where it rests against the animal's side - yup, definitely injured.

Like this, he can finally make out what animal it is. It's a red fox, bushy tail swishing nervously and ears flat against its skull.

"What did you get yourself into, little one?" he asks, stroking the fox's head and slowly turning it over so that he can inspect its injuries. Maybe it'd gotten caught in a trap and limped here - not impossible, but highly unlikely, seeing as how they hadn't noticed any blood stains on the way in.

When he finally sees the fox’s injuries, he winces involuntarily. Even Noya sucks in a breath at the sight - there's a huge bloodied patch on its left flank.

"Is that a burn?" Noya asks, his voice suddenly right by Akinori's ear. He's crouching down again, close enough that Akinori can feel the heat rolling off of him.

He frowns. On closer inspection, Noya's right, it does look like a burn. But what would burn a fox this badly? The poor thing looks incapable of moving at all.

 

 _Silver hurts them_.

The words flash before his eyes, a deep voice and a creaky wooden gate suddenly coming to mind. It’s a memory from almost four centuries ago- or is it five centuries now? He remembers the gardener who used to stay on the very outskirts of town, leaving out a plate of fried tofu every day in front of his door.

“Why do you do that?” Akinori remembers asking, because in all his years of life it was the first time he had seen fried tofu being used as an offering.

The gardener had looked at him in careful consideration. “It is for the foxes.”

“The foxes? Since when do they eat fried tofu?”

The question had definitely amused the gardener, if the way his lips twitched was anything to go by. “The kitsune do.”

Akinori had heard of them before, of course. The fox spirits who lingered mostly in the forest, occasionally venturing out to visit, or make mischief, in the town. They had never approached Akinori’s dwellings, so the most he’d seen of them was a sighting of red fur outside his window as they wandered past.

“They come to you?” Akinori had asked, bemused. “For fried tofu?”

A gravelly chuckle. “Yes. They keep watch over my crops at night. It is only right that I feed them.”

The kitsune are mischievous but mean no harm, the gardener, Ushijima, said many days later when Akinori visited him with some fried tofu from the market.

Ushijima had accepted the paper bag with a smile, and had brought out a ceramic bowl, in which he carefully placed the tofu.

“Ceramic?” Strangely traditional, considering how popular metal cutlery was.

Ushijima had nodded slowly. “The kitsune dislike metal. Silver hurts them, in fact. One of the young ones who visits me got burnt by a silver spoon the other day.”

“That bad?”

Ushijima had simply shrugged.

 

The fox lets out another pitiful whine. Now that he thinks about it, it might really be a kitsune in his arms. If what Ushijima had said was true, then there must be some silver in the mine that the kitsune might have brushed against by accident.

“We'll need more light to treat him,” Noya says, breaking the silence. Akinori nods.

“Let's get you out of here,” he murmurs to the fox, gently leaning back on his heels and standing up.

The walk out of the mine is quiet, save for the fox's soft whimpers. Akinori pats it in comfort, wishing that he could do more than just the mild numbing spell he’s cast to ease the pain.

Soon enough, they reach the narrow crevice leading back out into the main cave, and Akinori realises that there’s no way he’ll be able to squeeze through without jolting the fox further.

“Noya, can you carry him across?”

“Leave him to me,” Noya says, and Akinori deposits the fox into his open arms. Noya's about to turn away, ready to squeeze through to the other side, when the fox stirs. Akinori barely catches the way the glow from his light orb reflects off the fox's claws before he realises that it's trying to swipe at Noya’s neck.

_Too close._

His blood runs cold, and he almost forgets how to breathe; the restraining spell’s incantation is rolling off his lips before he even fully processes the sight, before he even realises he's moving or what he's doing.

“Woah,” Noya mutters, also sounding breathless. In his arms, the fox lies motionless, bound by Akinori's spell. Its ears twitch, and its eyes watch Akinori warily. “Thanks, Akinori. That was… scary.”

“We're trying to help you here, least you could be is thankful,” Akinori says to the fox before releasing the spell. His heart is pounding frantically in his chest. That was too close.

“‘'s cool,” Noya says, rubbing his thumb along the fox's skull. “He was startled by my movement and panicked.” Looking at the fox, he chides, “Don't do that again, it's scary. What if I dropped you?”

The fox doesn’t answer, but its tail swishes against Noya’s arm, as though in way of apology.

They make their way out of the cave quickly enough after that, Noya leading as Akinori trails behind, fox securely back in his arms.

It's still dark outside; daybreak isn't for hours yet. They need proper lighting to help the fox, so Akinori decides it's best that he teleport them back, even though the teleportation magic might have after-effects on the fox - a kitsune is a spirit, and Akinori remembers reading somewhere that warlock magic, especially one as strong as that used for teleportation, can react with the power of other magical creatures. Well, between a rock and a hard place, there’s not many options he can consider.

As usual, Noya catches on without him having to ask, slipping his hand into Akinori’s as he begins the incantation.The words roll easily off Akinori’s tongue, familiar warmth wrapping around them as the ground gives way, and air rushes by.

 

When their feet finally hit solid ground, Akinori finds Noya bent over, one hand gripping the back of an armchair. “I forgot how bad teleporting is,” he admits breathlessly. “It’s been a while.”

“Signs of aging,” Akinori says sagely. Noya staggers towards the dining table and sinks into a chair, making another exaggerated sound of agony when Akinori switches on the light, and in general being completely unhelpful as Akinori summons a few pieces of cloth and a basket to act as a makeshift nest for the fox.

“Sorry I wasn’t born a warlock and destined for teleportation,” Noya grumbles, but peers at the fox anyway. “He’s really pretty.”

The fox’s tail swishes in response, and Akinori can’t help the laugh that bubbles up. “Look at you, flattering foxes now.”

They watch the fox for a bit, the burn against its flank stark in the brightness of Akinori’s kitchen. There’s another one on its chest that they’d not noticed previously, and its front paws are red and sore too. The poor thing must have walked onto silver flakes. Akinori pinches his lips, and casts another numbing spell. It's the best he can do until he finds some way to treat the burns.

“It looks pretty bad,” Noya says at length. “How do you treat silver burns, anyway?”

Akinori frowns. He’s never had to treat silver burns, not for the werepeople, much less a kitsune. The worst he’d treated was a werewolf that had been struck by holy water, but instinct tells him that the kitsune aren’t exactly the same as werewolves. After all, if it had been a werecreature that had stepped onto silver, the poor creature would be fully paralysed by now.

“If he were a werefox, I’d give him detoxifying medication,” he muses. “But I’ve never dealt with a kitsune before, and it doesn’t seem to be as life-threatening as it is for the werepeople. I’ll give him a painkiller and numbing spell first, and pay Shirabu a visit later when he opens his apothecary.”

“Isn’t today a full moon? Kenjirou’s shop won’t be open till tomorrow. What if he dies before that?” Noya frowns up at him. The fox’s tail thumps against the table where it’s hanging out of the basket. Its eyes are bright.

“It’s offended that you think so lowly of it,” Akinori chuckles. “It’s not paralysed, it’s just a very bad burn. If it has enough strength to do that, it’s not gonna die that easily.”

With a cluck of his tongue, Noya stands up, hands on his hips as he walks over to stand in front of Akinori. Akinori sighs, hearing the unasked question loud and clear. “Fine, go pester future me, hopefully future me will be smarter than current me.”

Noya grins broadly, leaning down so that he can rest his chin on Akinori’s shoulder. “Love you too, Akinori.”

“Wherever you decide to go, please don’t knock on my door at eight in the morning,” Akinori says. He knows from the look on Noya’s face that it’s a futile plea.

* * *

**30th Century**

It’s unusual for Akinori to dream in his sleep, and even more unusual for him to dream of Noya, especially since it has been a while since he saw the other.

So when Noya's voice cuts sharply into his consciousness, Akinori jolts awake to wide eyes, gelled-up hair, and a warm body lying on top of him.

There's a triumphant smile on Noya's face, way too bright for the morning. "I can't believe you haven't changed your lock in ten centuries!" he says, waving a bunch of keys around his index finger; they jangle harshly in the otherwise silent room.

Akinori groans, throwing one arm over Noya so that he can pull the other flush against himself, muffling him against his chest. "You're a damn intruder, you know?"

Noya jabs at his sides in protest, so Akinori lets him go. "You sleep like a log, Akinori! I tried knocking but you didn't answer," he says, appearing absolutely unrepentant. "I would have been stuck outside your door for hours!"

"What time is it, anyway?" Akinori sighs. When Noya is around, sleeping in is hardly ever an option. Already the last vestiges of whatever he'd been dreaming about have vanished, replaced by bone-deep exhaustion; he'd stayed up late last night, a decision he now regrets with every inch of his body.

"It's eight, Akinori, _eight_."

"And why are you here at eight in the morning? I wasn't expecting you for a long time yet."

Noya had better have a damn good reason for waking him up two hours earlier than normal. Had it been any other day, he'd probably be less grouchy, but he's _tired_.

"You don't seem very happy to see me," Noya observes, voice suddenly quiet. "No, you look exhausted. Did you sleep late again?"

"Yeah," Akinori says, rolling over so that there's space on the bed for Noya, who scrambles on and curls up next to him. "Sorry, I only got a couple hours of sleep."

Noya squints at him in suspicion. "What were you doing?"

"Designing party potions for Terushima," Akinori says sheepishly. "Don't look at me like that, he offered me a good price."

There's a loud snort from the time traveller currently tucked into his side. "Right. Anyway, I wasn't planning to come over this soon either, but twentieth-century Akinori has met a problem that he doesn't know how to solve."

 _Uh-oh_. Akinori nods at him to continue.

"We found a kitsune in a mine a couple hours ago," Noya says, words tripping over each other. "It was injured by silver, but Akinori doesn't know how to treat silver burns. He says he's going to ask Kenjirou for help, but it’s a full moon today so Kenjirou's not available, so I told him I'd come here and see if you knew better than him."

"We are the same person, you know," Akinori says dryly. "But I think I have something."

Kitsune are much more fragile than the werepeople, and they don't get infections from silver like the werepeople do. They get silver burns, which means no amount of mundane medication will work on them. Thankfully, it seems that past-Akinori knows that already.

He climbs out of bed. If memory doesn't fail, there should still be some from when he got the deer mice to gather them for him. Behind him, Noya whoops with enough volume to make him wince - seriously, too early - and follows him.

His medicine room is organised in alphabetical order, so it isn't difficult at all for Akinori to find the small file labelled _Bralzt_. Much to his relief, there are some untouched leaves still packed in it. "Found it," he says in victory, holding it up to show Noya.

Noya peers at it. "What's that?"

"Bralzt," Akinori explains. "It's a herb that the faeries grew for cosmetic purposes some years back, but apparently it's really effective on silver wounds and burns when made into an ointment. I've treated a few kitsune who were burnt by silver and they recovered quickly enough - what is it?"

Noya's staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers. "You've treated kitsune?"

"Yeah, I'm friends with the leader of a nearby pack." He's not sure what Noya's trying to drive at, but the thought reminds him that it’s been some time since he paid Shinsuke a visit.

"Woah! What are they like? How come I've never met them?"

The question throws Akinori for a bit; he's never thought about how to describe Shinsuke and the Inarizaki. "Elusive," he settles on at last. "I don't see them often, though. And," he says, unable to help the grin that makes its way onto his face, "even I wouldn't want to meet you on a good day, much less the kitsune. They're peace-loving creatures, though a little mischievous sometimes."

Noya scoffs in disbelief. "Please, Akinori, you love me."

"Yeah, and most days I wonder why, considering you wake me up at inhuman hours of the day."

At the indignant sound that Noya makes, he laughs, ruffling the other’s hair. "I'm not kicking you out yet, so that has to count for something, right? Anyway, do I write down my instructions for past-me or can I trust you enough to relay them verbally?"

"Write them down, they’re probably too complicated for me to remember," Noya says, scowling slightly in what is probably an attempt to appear menacing. Even so, Akinori can hear the smile in his voice.

"Right, and then I'm going back to sleep and you're coming with me."

"What? I need to go back to the twentieth!"

"And if you think I'm going to let you make two ten-century jumps without any rest in between, you can think again."

* * *

**20th Century**

Noya’s still yawning when he finally knocks on Akinori’s door; the sun is already low in the sky.

“It’s colder here,” he says when Akinori finally lets him in. “The future’s hotter. Global warming’s real.”

“Okay,” is all Akinori can say, because what can he say to someone who just came from the future? “Did you get anything?”

He’s answered by Noya holding up a sealed bag containing a strange herb he’s never seen before. There’s a piece of paper attached to it, with handwriting Akinori recognises as his own. It’s surreal to think that another version of himself wrote this, but he pushes the thought out of his mind when Noya says, “This is bralzt! Future-you said that he’s treated kitsune with this for silver injuries and it worked.”

“I treated kitsune in the future?” Akinori asks, looking down at the instructions his future self has written on the paper. It takes a bit of time for him to decipher his own handwriting; he wonders if it’s become worse in the future. Maybe Noya’s complaints about his handwriting being illegible are well-founded.

“Yup, apparently you befriended a kitsune pack in the future. Anyway, how’s the rebel? Does it have a name?”

“You seem to think that I can speak fox,” Akinori says flatly, fixing Noya with a deadpan stare. As expected, it’s absolutely ineffective. “It’s fine, it fell asleep earlier. I sent an owl to Shirabu earlier, and he said to feed it some milk. It seemed to like it, at least.”

He’d cleaned and dressed its burns earlier, using what mundane medicine he had, if only to soothe the kitsune’s pain for a while. The kitsune had, to its credit, put up less struggle and resistance than he’d feared it would, considering what had happened in the caves with Noya.

But anyway, Noya’s only half-listening, because once the dining table comes into sight, he sprints the few metres separating himself from the kitsune, which looks up cautiously at his approach.

Since Noya’s distracted, Akinori takes the chance to head into the kitchen; bralzt seems easy enough to prepare, so while Noya keeps the kitsune company, Akinori will get the bralzt ready. After all, _someone_ has to be the responsible one here.

“We’re gonna get you back healthy and strong in no time, ‘kay?” Noya says, grin audible in his voice. There’s a bit of rustling from his general direction, and by the time Akinori’s put the bralzt down and glanced over to the dining table, he’s placed a small pouch in front of the kitsune.

With deft fingers Noya opens it, pulling out a few forest berries and offering them to the kitsune, who sniffs at it warily.

“What’s that?” Akinori asks, giving in to curiousity even as he fishes out the bralzt leaves from the package, thumbing their blades before putting them on to boil.

Noya hums, his free hand stroking the kitsune’s head. “Future-you said the leader of the kitsune pack he befriended really likes these berries and told me to bring some back. Hey,” he says suddenly, pausing in his movement and cocking his head at the kitsune. “Do you happen to know a Shinsuke?”

The kitsune’s tail thumps hard against the table, and it nips at the berries in Noya’s other hand, the suddenness of the movement catching Noya by surprise. “Woah, calm down,” Noya says, but lets the kitsune bite down into one of the berries. “Is that a yes?”

“Noya,” Akinori says in bemusement. “I don’t think kitsune can talk.”

“No harm trying,” Noya says, leaning down in front of the kitsune so that they are eye to eye, before launching into another one-sided conversation about god-knows-what. He’s utterly charmed by the kitsune, Akinori can tell. Very few things can keep Noya’s attention for long, but already this kitsune has stolen Noya’s heart. It’s just as well, though, because it means he can focus on the medication while Noya keeps an eye on the kitsune.

The potion is starting to bubble over, so he adds a handful of dried honeysuckle to the mix, then stirs the last bits of bottled moonshine in, making a mental note that he’ll need to restock the next time he visits Shirabu.

“Are you done?” Noya asks, and Akinori casts a look across to find that the berries have been finished and the kitsune’s fallen asleep on Noya’s hand, which he’s trying to keep as still as possible. The sight is strangely heartwarming to behold.

“Yeah,” Akinori says, extinguishing the fire with a flick of his wrist and casting a quick cooling spell in the same motion. The concoction thickens as it cools, so by the time he’s poured it out onto the ceramic dish, it’s less a potion as it is an ointment.

Levitating the dish across the low counter separating himself from the dining table, he makes his way over to lift the kitsune off of Noya’s hand and carry it back into the basket. Pulling off the old dressings he’d placed on the burns, he notes that they’re still as harsh as they were before, though less raw now that he’s cleaned them. He grimaces nonetheless; the amount of pain the kitsune must have been in for the past day is unimaginable.

Biting his lip, he scoops out some of the ointment, gingerly applying it onto the burn on the fox’s flank. The movement and sudden coolness must have woken the fox, because its body tenses as it turns to look at Akinori.

To his relief, it doesn’t move any more than that, amber eyes remaining trained on Akinori as he slathers the bralzt across the rest of its burns, making sure to cover every single one that he can see. Only when Akinori accidentally brushes against the burns on its paws does it let out a pained whine; at the sound, Noya rubs between its ears gently, and it whimpers a little before nuzzling against his hand.

The action doesn’t go unnoticed by Akinori as he dresses the kitsune’s wounds, musing to himself that it’s not just Noya who’s gotten attached. Almost taming a kitsune in less than a day? Only Noya is capable of doing that. Then again, that’s part of his charm, Akinori figures.

“Done,” Akinori murmurs, reaching over to stroke the kitsune’s head. “You should be back to full health in a couple of days, and you’ll be able to go home.”

At that, the kitsune makes a loud, panicked sound, startling both of them.

“I knew it, it doesn’t want to leave me,” Noya declares once he’s recovered from the shock. The kitsune sniffs, before nosing at his hand again.

“I hope that’s what it means,” Akinori says, arching an eyebrow at them. “I don’t speak fox, and this one seems pretty hard to read. What do you want for dinner?”

“Whatever’s in your kitchen!”

Ah, Noya. So easy to please. “Ramen it is,” he decides. “And then bed for the fox.”

It’s simple, falling back into this routine with Noya. Almost too simple. From the centuries of experience behind him, Akinori would wager that it’s about time life throws a curveball at them. He shrugs the thought off - whatever happens in the next few days, they’ll deal with it as it comes.

 

Akinori wakes up to sunlight coming in through the windows, which is unusual in itself, because Noya is still asleep and couldn’t have opened the curtains. As far as Akinori knows, neither of them sleepwalk, and there’s no way he might have accidentally magicked the curtains open in his sleep either.

Strange, Akinori decides, but his attention is drawn to Noya, who’s curled into his side, snoring softly, one of his arms hanging off the bed and the other draped over Akinori’s chest. He looks utterly drained. The long jumps must’ve taken their toll on him, as they always do. He’d mentioned that he took a nap before jumping back yesterday, but that he’d managed to even come back before nightfall was probably testament to how much he’d wanted to come back with the bralzt for the kitsune - enough to shove his own exhaustion to the back of his mind.

Akinori sighs, carding his fingers through Noya’s ungelled hair, before his attention is drawn to the kitsune, whose basket they’d placed on the nightstand yesterday when they went to bed.

Or rather, the absence of the kitsune.

Panic rising in his chest, he clambers out of bed, taking care to not disturb Noya, who barely stirs at the movement.

As he pads out into the hallway in search of the kitsune, he hears a long and low groan from someone who is definitely _not_ Noya. It sounds like it’s coming from the bathroom. This morning is just going from weird to weirder, Akinori thinks - it would be just his luck for a burglar to try and break in and then be stuck with a severe case of constipation, or food poisoning, or something. His toilet might be top-notch, but he’s still the one footing the utility bills, a point he must make clear to the intruder, he decides as he finally reaches the bathroom door.

It isn’t locked, and he pushes it open to find a topless man, slightly taller than himself, standing inside. He’s wearing a pair of Akinori’s sweatpants, which he’d apparently forgotten to pack into the closet yesterday. Even though it’s not exactly polite for a stranger to be wearing his clothes without permission, Akinori figures it’s better than having to walk in on a naked man in his bathroom. He’ll settle for the lesser of two evils.

He’s about to demand the man’s identity when he notices the wince as the man turns around, and then the burns covering his body, especially around his ribs.

Oh.

Well, he’d been expecting stranger things.

“You’re the kitsune?” Akinori asks, leaning against the doorframe. The man stares at him, momentarily bewildered, and Akinori takes in the way his light hair falls over his right eye, and how he rests his weight on his left leg. His mouth is pulled into a thin line, amber eyes like those that had gazed up at Noya yesterday now warily flickering over Akinori’s face.

“I am,” the man says. His voice is rough, probably from disuse, and his right arm is curled protectively over his left. There are burns visible on his palms too, but Akinori notes with relief that they look slightly better than they did last night. “I’m Miya.”

A pause stretches between them, before Miya says, “Thanks for saving me.” The words roll stilted off his tongue, and Akinori can’t help thinking that it’s probably a rare occasion for him to be thanking anyone.

“No problem. I wasn’t expecting you to be able to shift back so quickly, though.”

“I probably shouldn’t have, it hurt like a bitch,” Miya says, teeth flashing as he grins. “But it’s preferable to being stuck in fox form, and I’ll be able to return to my pack faster.”

Akinori shrugs. “You do realise I’m not going to let you leave until your burns have recovered, right? Even if you’re in human form.”

“I’ll just have to fight you to let me leave,” Miya says, cracking his knuckles and unsuccessfully trying to hide the shudder of pain that the action jolts across his body. “I need to go back.”

“Guess not,” Akinori says flatly, nodding at the burns littering his torso. “You won’t even be able to last three punches without worsening those injuries.”

“You don’t unders-”

“Akinori?” Noya says, voice pulled taut by a yawn, quick footsteps pattering down the hallway. “Why’re you up so early? Where’d the kitsune go?

He barrels into Akinori, hands going up around Akinori’s waist, before he thinks to look at Miya, still standing topless in front of the sink. “Wait, who’s this? Why’s there a half-naked man in your toilet?”

“This,” Akinori says, unable to help the edge of amusement that creeps into his voice, “is Miya. The kitsune.”

“Huh? Kitsune can shapeshift? Isn’t that what werefoxes do? Hi Miya, I’m Noya!”

Miya snorts. “Don’t associate us with them. Anyway, nice to meet you.”

“I think I preferred you as an animal,” Noya says. “You’re much grumpier in person. Man, and you were so cute last night too!”

Before Miya can get another word in, Akinori’s stomach growls, a sentiment that Noya’s echoes soon after. Ignoring the flush on Miya’s face that’s steadily creeping downwards at Noya’s reminder of his affection the night before, he says instead, “Let’s get some food, then we’ll talk about what happens next.”

Even Miya knows better than to argue; between Akinori and Noya, there’s not much of a fight he can put up.

 

Food, apparently, is the way to a kitsune’s heart. Or maybe it’s the reminder that Akinori and Noya saved his life that Miya finally breaks his silence.

“I’m from the Inarizaki, from the northern forest,” he divulges between bites of fried tofu that Akinori got from the small eatery in town, burns once again dressed and the minty smell of bralzt hanging in the air. “My pack was taking a shortcut through the cave as usual, and I was scouting ahead.”

He stabs his chopsticks at another piece of tofu, brows furrowing. “I don’t really know what happened, I was walking one moment and the next moment, everything was burning. Probably silver flakes, since it used to be a silver mine. But it’s the first time any of us have been burned, and it’s been an abandoned mine since-”

“Your pack?” Akinori tries, noting the way that Miya’s hands clench his chopsticks. “What happened to them?”

“I told ‘Sa- my brother to backtrack, obviously, and made him lead them back. He told me he’d come back for me once they were back in the den, but…” his voice trails off as he picks at the rice in his bowl. “You two arrived before he did. I mean, it’s a good thing, but he must be worried sick- ‘Samu always worries too much, and now he has no idea where I am-”

“That’s why you want to go back so desperately,” Akinori says, the pieces clicking in place. “You don’t want him to end up venturing deeper into the mine in search of you.”

Miya drops his head, shoulders hunching. “Yeah. I mean, I doubt he’ll be _that_ stupid, but we’ve never- look, I need to go back to my pack. I can recover there by myself, just let me go.”

Akinori sighs. “How far is your den from the cave?”

“Fifteen minutes, give or take,” Miya says.

 _That’s too far_ , Akinori thinks. “The cave is further from here than you think. I can’t teleport you, and I wouldn’t have in the first place if your burns weren’t so severe. Your power’s only going to get aggravated by my magic.”

“Then what, I let ‘Samu worry for the next few days with no news about me being alive or dead?” Miya snaps, patience running out at last. “What kind of pack leader would that make me?”

He looks startled by his own admission; Akinori wonders why he’d been trying to keep it secret in the first place. At the very least, it puts things into perspective. He clicks his tongue: he wasn’t lying when he said the cave was far away from his house - on a good day, it would take Akinori and Noya at least an hour by foot. With Miya in this condition, there’s no way he’ll be able to cover that distance by himself -

It’s Noya who breaks the silence, setting his chopsticks back onto his now-empty bowl with a resounding _clack_.

“Since Miyacchi can’t go alone, why not we go with him?”

Miya stares at him like he’s grown a second head. “Oi, what kind of name is Miyacch-”

Noya has a point, though. A pack leader can’t be away from his pack for too long, and it’s best if Miya can return as soon as possible. But still, the journey back is long, and teleportation is no longer an option for them.

His train of thought is rudely interrupted by an exclamation from Noya, who’s got that Look on his face whenever he stumbles upon a brilliant idea.

“I just remembered! Suga-san cracked the pod system and made them portals! I can whisk Miyacchi away to the forest near the cave since there’s a pod there and Akinori can teleport to join us, then we’ll take only half an hour at most to get to the den from there! Easy-peasy!”

“Wait, slow down,” Akinori says, steepling his fingers against his temples. Miya just looks baffled. “Neither of us get what you’re talking about. Who’s Suga-san?”

“Suga-san - ah, he’s a healer from the 28th. In the future, he hacked into our,” he makes a vague waving motion at himself, “space-time pods and now they work like interdimensional portals. We can travel from pod to pod in the same time period! I actually forgot about it because very few of us use that function!”

“You’re a time traveller?” Miya asks, amazement settling on his features as realisation dawns. Noya beams with a proud “Yup!” while Akinori frowns.

“What kind of healer _hacks_ a system like that? And you can’t bring non-travellers with you, can you?”

Noya shrugs. “I heard Morisuke-kun managed to transport a dog while on a mission, but I haven’t tried it myself.”

“That’s too big a risk! You can’t just assume that it works!”

“No it isn’t, at worst the system will just refuse to let us port! And if a dog can do it, a kitsune should as well.”

Akinori sighs. “Okay, say you can bring Miya on it. You’re not going to lose a leg, or something like that, right?” He’s heard horror stories of non-magical folk who left behind a limb or a few appendages while attempting to teleport. The last he wants is for Noya to lose half of his body in limbo, or something.

Next to him, Miya tenses.

There’s a loud derisive snort that sounds like Noya’s just inhaled half his breakfast through his nose. “ _No_ , Akinori. Don’t jinx it. What do you think this is, a Portkey from Harry Potter?”

“Who’s Harry Potter?”

Noya huffs again. “It’s a long story, I’ll tell you some other time. So are we going or not?”

 

By the time they set out six hours later, wanting to avoid the noontime sun, they’ve learnt, among other things, that Miya’s name is Atsumu, and his brother’s is Osamu - they’re a total of thirteen minutes apart in age. Their pack is made up of two kits, and four adults.

Miya, on the other hand, has learnt that Akinori met Noya when the other was eighteen years old, that Noya loves soda pops, and Akinori’s favourite food is fried chicken.

The sun is low in the sky when they reach the pod near Akinori’s house, which is camouflaged in the form of an abandoned cabin, a facade that Noya says changes every year in keeping up with the times.

“If we don’t come out in five, you can teleport to the cave,” Noya says, as he cradles Miya’s kitsune form in his arms.

“And if I hear shrieks of pain?” He means it to be half a joke, but Noya raises an eyebrow and points at the side of the cabin.

“If there’s any sound of distress from us, don’t come in _no matter what_.” Noya’s tone is firm, his gaze burning holes into Akinori until Akinori nods in acknowledgement. “There’s an emergency phone around the corner, pick it up and it’ll put a call through to Headquarters.”

“Uh. Okay.”

That sounds much more ominous that Akinori would have liked.

 

Luckily, there are no shrieks of pain or distress to be heard, and Akinori takes it as cue for himself to teleport to their agreed meeting point. He hears Noya before he sees them, as always, and it’s to his relief that he sees both Noya and Miya, now in human form, with all their limbs intact. Miya’s listening to Noya talk about one of his adventures to the future. Akinori can’t tell if he’s been trapped by Noya, or just really engrossed in Noya’s narration. Knowing Noya, it could be either.

“And so we were walking through the- Akinori! You’re so slow!” Noya says, voice echoing across the clearing, and turns back to Miya with a barely apologetic grin for the interruption as Akinori catches up with them. “And so we were walking through the market when he walked face first into this huge and tall guy with a bird nest on top of his head, and-”

“Is this about your adventures with Yaku?” Akinori asks. Noya never seems to tire of telling that story to anyone who might listen. Granted, it _is_ an interesting story. Problem’s just that Akinori’s heard it five or six times already.

“Yeah!”

Miya starts walking. Noya falls into step next to him, still talking, and behind them Akinori listens to the ground underneath his feet.

 _You befriended a kitsune_ , the ground says, sounding almost surprised. _They are a hard species to get close to, especially those of the Inarizaki. They like to keep to themselves._

 _Not much choice when it’s a matter of life and death,_ Akinori answers dryly, watching as Miya’s gaze follows Noya’s finger whenever the other points at something in the distance, a half-shouted question hanging in the air.

To himself, he adds: _Not much choice when Noya’s involved._

A question that’s been niggling away at him resurfaces, and he takes the opportunity to ask the ground as he walks, _Do you know if anyone passed through the mines before they did?_

Why would there be silver on the ground when the mine had long been abandoned? Was it a trap? Miya and his pack passed through the mine regularly and had never been burned until that night.

The earth is silent for a while before it says, _No,_ _I only recall the footsteps of the foxes._

 

It’s not long before Inarizaki’s den comes into view. They’re downwind of the den, but Akinori can see a single kitsune sitting guard in front of the entrance, of similar size and build as Miya, but with darker fur. His ears are perked up and alert, and his whole body is drawn taut.

Miya hisses between his teeth. “That’s ‘Samu. You two stay behind me.”

“He looks fiercer than you, Miyacchi.”

“He _is_ fiercer than me,” Miya says. “He’s either going to be very relieved, or very angry.”

At the rustle of grass their approach makes, Osamu’s immediately on his feet with a bark, teeth bared in their direction, ears flattened against his skull. Miya stands in front of them, a lazy smirk spreading across his face.

“Hey, ‘Samu.”

Osamu barks again, the sound loud and harsh and threatening, before stepping forward to sniff at the three of them. Another kitsune strides out of the den, this one grey with white specks, and Osamu retreats.

“Where’s he going?” Noya whispers.

“Shifting into human form,” Miya says. “Hey, Rintarou.”

The grey kitsune eyes them warily, before taking two steps towards Miya and snapping at the leg of his pants.

“You hurt my feelings, Rintarou,” Miya says, but bends down and lets the kitsune leap into his arms. “Is this how you treat me after I go missing?”

Rintarou just purrs and nudges at his hands, which are still covered with dressings.

“It's a long story, get ‘Samu to hurry up and shift back so I can tell you both.” There’s no mistaking the fond affection in Miya’s tone as he runs his bandaged hands down Rintarou’s back, right before he tacks on a loud, “‘Samu, you’re so _slow_!” and crosses the invisible line back into his territory, gesturing at Akinori and Noya to follow suit.

“‘Tsumu,” Osamu says, stepping out from the entrance to approach them. His voice is deeper than Miya’s, but also gentler, though there’s an undercurrent of danger that matches Miya’s own. Up close, the crinkles around his eyes are a little less pronounced than Miya’s, and his lids a little droopier, but otherwise he looks like a spitting mirror image of his brother.

“Who are these two?”

“My personal bodyguards,” Miya says cheerily, and Akinori resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Aren’t you gonna ask where I went? More importantly, where's my warm welcome home?”

“None for you, and you’re going to tell me what happened anyway, aren’t you?”

“You’re no fun, ‘Samu, where’s the love?” Miya complains, bending down so that Rintarou can leap out of his arms; in the lull, Osamu’s gaze sweeps over Akinori and Noya.

“I’m Osamu. Nice to meet you,” he says, bowing slightly to them, a gesture they both return. “I’m assuming you rescued my brother?”

“I’m Konoha,” Akinori says, Noya chiming in next to him. “We came across him yesterday morning in the Kouyou. We’ve been treating his burns, but they’re not fully recovered yet. We didn’t want to let him come back, since his injuries were quite serious, but your brother’s very stubborn, so we decided to come drop him off instead.”

“He is,” Osamu huffs, then drops into a bow. “Thank you for saving his life. The pack has been very distressed since he went missing, and I know he’s a handful when he’s injured.”

Miya makes an insulted noise at the comment, but Akinori just grins. “It’s no worry at all. He was very cooperative while in kitsune form, for the most part.”

“Yeah, he nuzzled my hand!” Noya helpfully adds, and Miya flushes scarlet. Osamu slides a glance at his brother and turns his gaze back onto Noya, but Akinori can tell that he’s biting back a laugh.

“Oh, we also brought his medication,” Noya says, abruptly turning to rummage through his rucksack and triumphantly pulling out the bottle of bralzt that they’d placed inside earlier. “Don’t use too much of it at one go,” he warns as he hands it to Miya. “That’s all we have of it. I mean, it’s a full bottle. Just don’t shower in it, or something.”

“Got it,” Miya drawls, eyes alight with mischief. “I’ll soak myself in it.”

Akinori snorts, before his eyes shift to the setting sun outside. “Well then, I think it’s time we take our leave now that you’re safe. Our trip here’s done.”

Miya’s face falls, and Noya makes a sound of disappointment. “Already? I wanted to explore the den!”

Akinori nods; the sun is pulling long shadows on the ground, almost dipping below the horizon, and he doesn’t want to stay out in the open forest more than he needs to. The forest at twilight is filled with dangerous creatures. “We can visit again some other day, but I think it’s best if we go back now.”

A sigh, then Miya himself drops into a deep bow, an action that takes Akinori by surprise. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“It’s strange to see you so polite,” Akinori grins. “Really, don’t mention it.”

Osamu nods at both of them as they turn to exit the kitsune territory. “Safe travels. Thank you for all the help.”

“See you, Miyacchi! I’ll be sure to visit!”

Akinori has to stifle the laugh that bubbles up at Osamu’s bewildered expression when Miya waves back. Noya really grows fast on people.

Noya slips his hand into Akinori’s, and the ground falls away beneath them as he teleports them back home.

Somehow, he has a niggling feeling that this isn’t the last he sees of the kitsune.

* * *

**One week later**

The knocks on the door are harsh in the morning silence, and Akinori turns over with a muffled groan. “Did you forget your key _again_?” he all but yells in exasperation, but the knocking doesn’t stop. Noya’s penchant for waking him up at hell o’clock is going to kill him someday.

Beside him, something squirms, then a sleepy, “What are you yelling about?”.

Sleep-addled brain catching up at last, he finally registers that he’s not the only one lying in the bed; Noya’s right next to him.

“I thought you were knocking on the door,” he yawns, regretting staying up so late because they had been determined to beat the next level of Donkey Kong. (They’d only conceded defeat after three tries.)

“Someone’s knocking on the door? You should go get it, Akinori,” Noya says, burrowing further into the blankets. Akinori frowns at the lump in disapproval, before reluctantly extracting himself from the bed, shivering at the sudden loss of warmth as he pads towards the door.

Whoever they are, they haven’t let up on the knocking. Akinori _really_ isn’t in the mood for dealing with door-to-door salespeople at this hour.

He opens the door, and -

“Morning!” the person sings. Akinori drags his gaze upwards; it settles on a sly smirk and crinkled eyes.

“Miya?”

“At your service,” Atsumu says, raising his right hand to his heart in mock formality. As his yukata sleeves fall, Akinori notes with relief that the skin that had been covered in burns and dressings barely a week ago is smooth and unscarred. “You sure sleep late for a warlock, huh?”

Akinori rolls his eyes at the jibe, but opens the door wider to let him in. “We had a late night.” The console they were using last night is still a mess of wires and cables in front of the television - they hadn’t bothered to put it away, since Akinori had figured they would be playing again first thing in the morning.

“What’s that?” Atsumu asks, and Akinori laughs.

“Noya’s new weapon. He’ll probably teach you once he’s awak-”

“Is that Miyacchi?” Noya’s voice calls from the bedroom, and the next thing Akinori knows, a miniature cannonball has latched itself onto Atsumu’s back. “Miyacchi!”

“Wow, morning breath,” Atsumu grimaces, attempting - and failing - to pry Noya off of himself. “Hello to you too.”

“So, Miya, why are you here?” Akinori asks. “Wait, scratch that. Are you staying for long? Can we go brush our teeth first?”

“Please do, both of you stink.”

 

When Akinori returns to the living room, teeth clean and face washed, he finds Atsumu prodding in confusion at the controls of the game console. “Noya switched it on, but I don’t know what’s happening?”

Akinori laughs. “We’ll show you later. Why are you here?”

“To return you your bralzt bottle,” Atsumu’s tone is oddly neutral - too neutral - as he points at the empty bottle on the coffee table. He looks up as Noya walks in, smelling like toothpaste, and deposits himself next to Akinori on the sofa. “And also, ‘Samu and I talked about everything that happened, and we have a gift for both of you.”

He holds up a small pouch and hands it to Akinori, then watches as Akinori runs his fingers over the velvet before opening it to reveal its contents.

Two orbs, the size of small all-seeing stones, sit side-by-side inside, glowing white. Akinori’s breath catches. He’s read about them before.

“What’re they?” Noya stares at them, transfixed by their swirling depths.

Akinori stares at Atsumu, uncomprehending. Atsumu doesn’t even flinch.

“ _Hoshi no tama,_ star spheres. Anyone who possesses one can command any favour from a kitsune.” He pauses, then pulls the pouch back shut and hands it back to Atsumu. “We can’t take this.”

Atsumu shakes his head. “One for each of you.”

“Why?” Akinori asks, at the same time that Noya says, “Huh?”

“The kitsune don’t owe debts, and I pretty much owe you two my life. The Inarizaki owe you their leader. Consider this our way of returning the favour.”

“It’s not a debt,” Akinori frowns. “Don’t think of it like that.”

“Keep it,” Atsumu insists, folding Akinori’s hand back over the pouch. His eyes burn into Akinori’s own. “Call on the Inarizaki if you ever need help, and we will come to you. No matter when and where you may be.”

As though sensing the protest on Akinori’s lips, he adds, “Please just accept it. ‘Samu’s going to laugh at me if you refuse me even this. What kind of chief would that make me? And you don’t need to use it if you don’t want to. You can keep it as a momento, or as thanks.”

“Fine,” Akinori sighs, and Atsumu beams before turning to Noya.

“Remember you mentioned a Shinsuke previously? The kitsune chief that Warlock-san meets in the future?”

Noya nods.

“He’s one of our kits, and he was amazed that someone would jump all the way to the future just to get me medicine. I think he’d like to meet you both someday.” There’s a small smile playing on his lips as Noya lets out an excited whoop, already making plans for a visit to the kitsune den sometime in the future.

Akinori feels something in his heart twinge - how strangely fate works, and in what unexpected ways too. 

 

“Now, are you gonna tell me what that mess on the ground is?” 

“Donkey Kong!” Noya cheers, immediately grabbing for the controls and starting up a game, throwing the other to Akinori.

“That doesn’t look like a donkey. Isn’t that a gorilla? What’s it doing in a cave?”

“They’re one and the same, Miyacchi.”

“I’m quite sure they’re not.”

“They both have four limbs- Oi, Akinori, wait _up_!”

“That’s what happens when you get distracted, Noya. Don’t fall through a hole again.”

“Excuse me, you’re the one who chose this map?!”

Surprisingly, they manage to clear the cave on their first try.

**FIN**

**Author's Note:**

> References for fox behaviour were taken from [here](https://roeselienraimond.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/15-fox-talk/), [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fox#Social_and_territorial_behaviour) and [here](http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/sounds.html).
> 
> Information on hoshi no tama, or the star spheres that Miya gifts to Konoha and Noya, was taken from [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune#Hoshi_no_tama).
> 
> Thank you [Safyre](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphyreLily/pseuds/SapphyreLily) for betaing, and [Tsucchi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsucchi) for always encouraging me!
> 
> A kudos or a comment would be much appreciated. If you enjoyed this, you might like to give the rest of the series a read as well.
> 
> [tumblr (rielity)](https://rielity.tumblr.com/) | [twitter (noyabeans)](https://twitter.com/noyabeans) | [haikyuu writing journal](https://noyabeans.dreamwidth.org/)


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